Family and Friends Cope With Loss Of Pennsylvania Firefighter Killed When His House Caught Fire
Her husband, Edward Butler, was a Philadelphia firefighter who spent nearly eight years with the department and worked on the Snorkel 2 unit.
But it only took 20 minutes Thursday afternoon for black smoke to fill up Butler's lungs, Pottstown, Montgomery County, fire officials said.
Her loss doesn't stop there.
Willis Butler's 16-year-old daughter, Quanella Drumgold, is lying in a bed at Lehigh Valley Medical Center near Allentown listed in critical condition, officials said. Both were unconscious with no burns when medics rushed them off in an emergency helicopter minutes after the two-alarm blaze. Officials believed Edward Butler was killed by smoke inhalation.
"She looks like she is ready to fall down," said neighbor Verna Williams Lacey describing her friend's emotional state during a brief conversation the two had yesterday afternoon. "She was upset. And seeing her made me more upset."
Pottstown firefighters found Butler, 42, in the rear second floor bedroom slumped over on the floor, only a few feet from his step-daughter who was found on the bed, Pottstown Fire Chief Richard Lengel said.
The blaze somehow erupted in the downstairs living room about 12:55 p.m. with smoke quickly filling the house. Officials said yesterday they were investigating the cause of the fire.
"I keep thinking about the fire every time I look over there," said Lacey, 80, about the now-gutted house at 708 Walnut St.
But Willis Butler's plight might get even worse.
Butler's death in a suburban home had some wondering whether he had been in compliance with the city's residency requirement.
The strict rule demands that city workers use a Philadelphia address as their "bona fide domicile," meaning that property records, phone listings, voter registrations, where they receive their mail, where their spouse lives and where their children attend school all point to their city house as their true home.
"There are literally hundreds of people out there who are probably in violation of this requirement that you never catch up with," said Deputy City Controller Tony Radwanski. "You catch up with them when they make a mistake."
If the office deems the worker in violation of the rule, that worker is subject to firing, though not to any other penalties. Even if Butler were in violation of the rules, Radwanski said, his heirs would still be able to collect his pension.
In the past, the city has sent Butler's paychecks to a rowhouse on Newhall Street near Tacoma in the Nicetown section that is owned, according to property records, by Freddie and Angela Thomas.
When a reporter called that house requesting an interview, a woman who did not want to give her name answered the phone and screamed, "Leave us alone!" before hanging up the phone.
The Pottstown house is owned by Butler and his wife, according to mortgage records. And residents said Butler is a familiar friendly face on the block saying "hello" to all his neighbors as they walk by his front yard.
Despite Butler's confusing legal address, his commanders stressed yesterday that he did not do anything wrong.
"It's not uncommon for our employees to have more than one property," Daniel Williams, executive chief to the fire commissioner. "As far as we know his legal residence is in the city and that's where he commuted to and from work. We have no information to lead us to believe that he lived outside the city."
Butler's step-daughter is a sophomore at Pottstown High School, said a schoolmate.
Yesterday was a gloomy day at the school as officials spoke over the loud speaker asking students to pray for Drumgold's recovery, said a 14-year-old girl who attends the school who added that she has been living down the street from the Butlers for the past three years.
"A lot of people are sad," said the girl who did not want to give her name over the phone. "She lost her family and her home."
Butler was the second firefighter killed in the past week. On Monday, Patrick Moore, 39, with Engine 53 at 4th Street and Snyder Avenue, died in a car accident. His funeral was yesterday.
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